This is a fast moving book. The characters were very likable and there was a lot of sizzle. Both needed to let go of the past to move forward.

This is the conclusion of the King brother's saga and it's finally time for Ajax's story. Ajax wants to be free of his father's dirty legacy and plans to make a clean break from the past once and for all. Imogen has been raised by a rival of Ajax's father and hasn't grown-up like a princess in a fairytale. When her and Ajax collide the sparks fly. He needs her for his plan to succeed and she needs him for a taste of freedom .As they spend time together they both realize that they might not have known as much about each other as they thought they did. They both realize how similar their childhoods were and how horrible their father's were. Ajax has always put everyone else's needs before his own will he stay the course with his plan for Imogen or will he do something for himself for once. You really need to read this book and go on this journey with them as it's written in such a raw honest emotional way that Jackie Ashenden excels at. You can NEVER go wrong with a book by the AMAZING Ms. Ashenden. I was given an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. I look forward to reading what comes next from the INCREDIBLE Ms Ashenden.

Jackie Ashenden writes the best Alpha males and Ajax is no exception. I love the way she makes the men so 3 dimensional and you end up loving their softer side has much as their hard. Imogen was a great ying to Ajax’s yang, his complete opposite in character but with a background that made it possible to understand what made him tick. This was a great read.

ARC from NetGalley for Honest Review
I Give this book 3/5 Stars

I really liked this book, haven’t read an Ashenden book in quite a while and this was just the book to help me jump right back in.
I thought this was a joy to read, I wouldn’t classify this as a Insta-Love but I’d definitely call it close.

Romance: 3.5
Suspense: 3-ish
Drama: 3-ish

I look forward to reading another book from this author and definitely recommend this one ;)

A nice conclusion to the King's of Sydney series. Ajax, the oldest brother is still trying to clean up his father’s mess. He thinks kidnapping Imogen White will give him the leverage to force her father to give up his criminal intentions. But Imogene views her kidnapping as an escape from the prison that is her father’s house. For Imogene, being kidnapped is not much different than living with her father. She takes the opportunity to rid herself of her virginity. Ajax falls in love, but sends her to New York so she can live her own life. The King brothers see that Ajax needs Imogen and convince her to return to Sydney. Imogene returns, deals with her father and then deals with Ajax.

Jackie Ashenden never fails to deliver the goods and "King's Ransom" is excellent. The storyline was good as was the hot romance. Enjoyed.

This was a great revenge/forbidden romance read and I loved that it had two really great multi-dimensional characters that I really got invested in. This had a sweet charismatic heroine who was all innocence with hearts in her eyes and a gruff, growly beast as a Hero. Personally I love these types of pairings. The heroine always surprises you when she reveals she's not as soft or naive as she first appeared and the Hero always charms me when he shows you he's really just a big softy when it comes to his woman. Ajax and Imogen were all of that and I loved it!

I loved the idea that Imogen didn't see Ajax as her enemy, not even when he confesses he kidnapped her as leverage to blackmail her father and not after she finds out who Ajax is in the grand scheme of things. She saw beyond his tough exterior. Ajax was also a fun character. He tried to stay oblivious when it came to Imogen but she got under his skin and it wasn't long before he was giving her all the emotional support and care that she'd never had at home. I loved that they both had each other's backs and were such positive influences on each other.

I pretty much devoured this one and am curious to read the other King brothers' stories now too. This is part of a series but can be read as a standalone!

Would I recommend? Highly recommend. Its a short read but packed full of heat, humor, emotion and really likable characters. So far, I'm really enjoying the Harlequin DARE reads :)

King's Ransom by Jackie Ashenden is book Three in the Kings of Sydney Series. This is the story of Ajax King and Imogen White. This can be a standalone book.
Ajax is working to clean up Sydney's criminal side which leads him to take Imogen to try to control her father who wants the opposite. But what Ajax wasn't expecting was the feelings that Imogen brings out which leads to complications on his goal with her father.

oldest brother ajax ransom is used to being the biggest bad. except he kind of has this heart of gold protector vibe going for him too. when he kidnaps imogen winters as a ploy to bring her criminal father into line, he's not expecting full cooperation.

imogen is tired of being held captive to her father's nefarious wants. she sees a chance to escape and to be set free in ajax's arms. it's possible that being with him will be the only thing that can quiet her unquiet mind.

these two are basically meant for each other. imogen's singleminded curiosity the perfect counterpoint to ajax's stone cold determination. they are similar and yet opposite. and together in king's ransom they make sense.

**king's ransom will publish on april 1, 2019. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/harlequin (dare) in exchange for my honest review.

Ajax himself states he is no knight in shining armour, but to the naked eye his actions show otherwise. Well, maybe a little tarnishing around the edges... But do the ends always justify the means? And will seeking revenge on the innocent show strength? Imogen is a surprise in this story. Not as innocent as she is thought of, but her curiousity and desire to learn cause troubles and problems unexpected by her "kidnapper". Will her softer side smooth the rough edges of his life? Will his resolve to remain isolated be melted by her inclusion? Or will their family loyalties keep them apart?

This is a tale of good intentions that pave the road to hell or perhaps in this case it might be heaven. Ajax King has the purest of motives when he kidnaps a rising crime lord's daughter in an attempt to keep his town clean of crime. Imogen is an innocent and determined to derail all of Ajax's plans.
So imagine a scenario when you're about threaten and intimidate and you find yourself pedaling backwards as fast as you can. Apparently rather than being afraid or resentful Imogen is grateful to be rescued from the prison of her father's guards who want to preserve her innocence only so her father can auction it off to the highest bidder. Determined to do things on her own terms Ajax doesn't know how to resist her innocent allure.
There isn't much meat to this story. Ajax was powerless at one time to act against his crime lord father even though he ultimately put him away for his crimes. Now determined to continue on his path to clean his city off crime he finds his plans backfiring and himself charmed by his prisoner. Young, beautiful Imogen meets the world head on determined to have her cake and eat it. It doesn't quite work out so easily or all her way but it's a love story.
Ms. Ashenden is a relatively new author for me. While I enjoyed the previous book in this series I want this one a bit light and lacking.

As I usually do, l'll state at the outset that I am seriously addicted to Jackie Ashenden's books, and her Kings of Sydney series is one I've been following from the start. I love her dominant heroes, her (usually) submissive heroines, her sizzling sex scenes and her smart, often snarky, dialogue, but, having said that, and having been absolutely over the moon about the first book in this series, King's Price, I found the second book in the series, King's Rule, didn't quite measure up to it, and because I of a few issues, which I'll get to, I felt just a little shortchanged by this one, and I am giving it a 4-star rating.

The hero of this novel is Ajax King, the oldest, and perhaps the most protective of the three King brothers featured in this series. Their father was a crime boss, and Ajax had to betray his brothers in order to bring his father's corrupt enterprise down, and his father has been in prison for the past 5 years. Ajax' self-image is that of a monster, but he's spending all his time helping to make their business enterprises legal, open and above-board. He's tryinh to rid his city not only of his fathers' influence, but he also wants to take down his father's arch rival, William White and his criminal enterprises too, and has finally come up with a way to make Mr. White leave Sydney and move his unlawful business interests elsewhere--he plans to kidnap Imogen White, the crime lord's virginal, innocent, over-protected, and naive daughter, and Ajax will use her and her father's belief that her value to him is all about her virginity, and he wants to keep her that wa, in order to use her as a sacrificial lamb in some future deal with his shady business associates. Ajax wants to use her as the leverage to run William White and his organization out of town, and will use the threat of taking her innocence to make her father comply with Ajax King's wishes and get her back.

During a banquet, Ajax watches and waits until Imogen, who has been surrounded and protected by five of her father's goons during the event, needs to use the ladies room, and heads there with two goons accompanying her. Ajax makes short work of them, and corners Imogen in the ladies room--but he's in for quite a surprise. Sweet little Imogen doesn't scream when he tells her why he's there and what he plans to do, instead, she smiles, and is absolutely thrilled that Ajax will be doing something for her that she was never able to do for herself, get away from her overbearing father, who has always blamed her for her mother's death (she died giving birth to Imogen), and guilted her into doing exactly what he wants. She has never even left the house without several bodyguards in tow, never had a date, was home schooled, never even had any girlfriends to talk to. She's not at all what Ajax was expecting, and her mile a minute, excited questions, her giddy joy at the possibility of finally having some freedom, albeit with a kidnapper, and her sheer optimism about this new adventure, made her a standout character for this reader. I absolutely loved her and loved the way Ajax was both floored and dumbfounded by her quirky personality, as well as attracted to both her looks and her innocence.

Sequestered at Ajax' highly secure, waterfront estate, Imogen is safe from her father, but is she safe her from tall, handsome, imposing kidnapper? And is he safe from her? Although Ajax never planned to take her innocence, that's exactly what Imogen wants him to do, seeing it as perhaps her only chance to experience sex before her father caves to Ajax' demand that he leave Sydney, which is the only way he'll return Imogen to her father. Prepare yourself for Ms. Ashenden's steamy sex scenes, there aren't many authors who write them quite as well, and be prepared for the cool, dark, seemingly armor-plated Ajax, to lose some of that armor, because Imogen also wants revenge for the cloistered life of loneliness and guilt she's been forced to live, and what better way to pay her father back than to lose the innocence her father so values to his arch enemy, Ajax King?

While Ms. Ashenden is an amazingly talented writer, I feel that this series of novels would have been better suited to the Harlequin Romantic Suspense imprint, than the Dare imprint, primarily because the Dare imprint novels are designed to be quick, short, sexy reads, which don't give an author who's capable of writing a richer, more fleshed-out story with more depth and more action, a chance to do so. In this novel, I kept waiting for a confrontation between these two arch enemies, or even an attempt by Imogen's father and his cohorts to get her back, but because the Dare line calls for shorter novels, Ms. Ashenden didn't get chance to expand on the bare bones of this story simply because of the page count. I also felt a somewhat cheated by the very abrupt HEA ending. Perhaps there is a market out there for short, sexy novels, but as a reader, I've not been thrilled by the novels Dare imprint, and would have much preferred to let this particular author decide on what to do with her wonderful characters, when to do it, and allow her to pace their relationship so that the HEA ending had a bit more time and was a bit more fulfilling than just a couple of paragraphs.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

Loved this third book in the Kings of Sydney series which happens to be Ajax's story. Ajax is the oldest King brother and he feels a responsibility to get the family business clean and rid Sydney of it's criminal syndicate. He and his brothers have been working hard to get their businesses legit now his focus is shifting. How Ajax plans on getting rid of the local crime boss may be questionable but he sees no other way. He plans on hitting the boss in the only place it will hurt - his daughter. Kidnapping the crime bosses daughter should be easy but Ajax soon learns nothing about Imogene is easy!

Their story is fun and definitely sexy. Don't miss it, I highly recommend.

3.75 stars--KING’S RANSOM is the third instalment in Jackie Ashenden’s contemporary, adult KINGS OF SIDNEY erotic, Harlequin DARE romance series focusing on the King siblings. This is eldest brother and billionaire businessman Ajax King, and heiress Imogen White’s story line. KING’S RANSOM can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous instalment is revealed where necessary.

SOME BACKGROUND: Months earlier, the King brothers took over their father’s real-estate business, a business with ties to the local mob. With their father now in jail for money laundering and fraud, Xander, Leon and Ajax King struggle to clean up a reputation inherited based upon sins of the past.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Ajax and Imogen) KING’S RANSOM follows Ajax King as he executes his plan to take down and destroy William White, one of the last holdouts in the criminal underground world of Sydney, Australia, a world of which his father once controlled. At a local charity event Ajax sets his sights on pampered princess Imogen White, a virginal young woman, believed to be the apple of her father’s eye. What ensues is the kidnapping and ‘imprisonment ‘of Imogen White, and the building romance and relationship between our leading couple.

Imogen White is pleased beyond comprehension that Ajax White is her would-be abductor. Having tried desperately to run from the life her father has imposed, Imogen finds herself looking forward to time spent with Ajax in the hopes of perhaps, something more. To be used as a pawn for her father’s business deals, our heroine is hoping that Ajax King claims her as his own, leaving her father without her once-valued commodity. Ajax King had no idea that Imogen White would be pleased with her current situation. Desperate to use Imogen against her father, Ajax struggles between head and heart where it concerns our story line heroine.

The relationship between Imogen and Ajax is one of immediate attraction but Imogen is now Ajax’s prisoner, a prisoner who finds herself falling for the man in charge. The Sex scenes are intimate, passionate and erotic, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters are limited as the story line focuses on the relationship between our leading couple, and Ajax’s need to destroy William White. We are reintroduced to Ajax’s brothers Leon and Xander; as well as the introduction of Imogen’s father William White.

KING’S RANSOM is a story of family, betrayal, vengeance and love. The premise is engaging and captivating; the romance is impassioned and seductive; the characters are colorful and energetic-Imogen is a feisty young woman willing to risk everything for her freedom and more.

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Ajax King, self proclaimed monster, eldest son of Augustus King who he help bring to justice not long ago. He cannot have any one person run Sydney unchecked so when his father’s protégé decides to try, Ajax knows what he has to do. Kidnap William White’s daughter Imogene. That will ensure he leaves town quickly and permanently.

Imogene is bored, being a pawn in her father’s games is boring. She knows what is expected of her yet she can’t seem to care. Ever since her father told her that her mother died because of her (she died while giving birth to Imogen) she has been desperate for his love. Only to come up empty handed time and time again. When Ajax appears before her and says he is kidnapping her, she believes an angel has been sent to her despite all the darkness.

Ajax can’t believe that his little princess is so eager to be “kidnapped”. What kind of home life must she have with her father, William White, to have her practically jumping into her enemy’s hands? She proves to be more than just a virginal face once he gets her home. She is beautiful, but smart, brave, honest and loving. All the things he feels he doesn’t deserve to have in his life, how will he ever give him up.

Imogen and Ajax realized they love each other but he feels he needs to set her free for her to thrive. Imogen has been a captive in her father’s home then straight to Ajax’s home, he thinks she hasn’t had a chance to live so he sets her free. Ajax has been protecting everyone that matters to him in his life, he has to protect Imogen too. Months pass and they are both miserable until Imogen returns home, after a call from Leon. She knows that they are just what each other needs to navigate life together. Together they make a future they can both thrive in not just survive.

Loved reading Ajax and Imogen’s story, 4 ½ stars for this 3rd installment in the King series. Ajax is the stereotypical oldest child, the protector no matter the cost. He finds himself empty inside and at first thinks that is how he likes it until Imogen. Imogen has been empty inside looking for her knight in shining armor; Ajax rides in to save the day in ways she could never imagine. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance reader copy.

Delightful collision of hearts!

Ajax King sets out to vanquish his last remaining enemy by holding the man's daughter hostage in exchange for his cooperation. Right from the start, however, Imogen had her own agenda and promptly set about to get her own revenge. This book is filled with exquisitely described chemistry and intense attraction, sprinkled with outrageous humor and sheet-clenching steamy times.

These two have such a fun time with each other along the exciting road to their HEA, and the author's writing style just effortlessly sweeps the reader along for the ride. I loved, loved, loved this story, and I can't recommend it enough. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

I was given an ARC in exchange of my honest review.
Ajax King plans to keep his city and family safe now that his father is in jail.
His plan is to make William White get out of Sydney by kidnapping his daughter and blackmailing him to leave and never return.
Imogen White is the most guarded heiress of William White, but she is also a tool to use against him.
Sometimes the best plans don't always come out as planned. Ajax is stun when Imogen is Not scare of him but is happy to be kidnapped. Their chemistry is off the charts (super steamy).

Ajax King has plans to keep his city and his family safe and those plans include driving what's left of the criminal underworld out of Sydney. In order to do this he decides to kidnap the daughter of his enemy and promise to return her unharmed and untouched once William White had cleared out. Imogen White is tired of living in fear under her father's tyrannical thumb. When she is kidnapped by her father's enemy, she sees it as an opportunity for freedom and revenge.

I really enjoyed this fun, fast read. I loved the relationship between Ajax and Imogen. They are able to learn about themselves in their relationship and they are able to understand each other through similar experiences. I loved seeing Ajax realize that he was able to allow himself what he wants. I loved seeing Imogen realize that she is actually worth something. The only complaint I have about this book is that it wasn't longer. I felt like everything went by so fast!

Overall, I totally recommend this book to anyone looking to escape for a few hours into the lives of Ajax and Imogen.

When I first started reading this book I thought “what a stupid girl”. She acted so silly and not really what I am use to reading in Ms. Ashenden’s books. But the more I read, the more I realized that even though she is very naïve, her heart is in the right place. She just needed something to focus on in life. Ajax is sex on a stick and I really liked his character. The bad boy who is always trying to protect those he loves. This book is a quick read and even though I was a little put off by Imogen’s behavior, I really enjoyed reading about their interactions. And, as always, Ms. Ashenden’s does not pull any punches when it comes to emotions at the end of her stories.

You know what you’re getting into when you bite into a Jackie Ashenden novel.  Lots of internal monolouging from possessive, alpha male heroes and sweet, sassy-mouthed girls who wanna fuck as much as the heroes want to fuck them.  Sometimes she’ll be funny, but she’ll always be sexy.  King’s Ransom is Ashenden at her peak, combining humor, drama, angst and romance and reaching heights more pleasing than ice cream on a hot summer day.  If you go in for never-gonna-love-you-but-ooh-oh-no-I’m-falling! Heroes, then this is gonna be catnip, and the heroine was the most delightful one I’ve read about in weeks.Ajax King always suspected that his father was a criminal.  When he was proven right, he vowed to destroy the man’s criminal empire and restore the family name by sending his father and all of his associates to prison, then creating a legitimate business from the ruins.  Ajax spent two decades doing that, and now he’s down to the last head of the criminal hydra – William Wright, his father’s right hand man.  After trying to bring White down through legitimate channels, Ajax decides that the best way to manipulate William into doing what he wants is by kidnapping his daughter, Imogen, and ‘ruining’ her.  William is, after all, jealously and fanatically guarding his daughter to make sure she stays a virgin so he can sell her “pretty little hymen” (Ajax’s words) to one of his most trusted associates.  So Ajax decides he’s going to hold her hymen hostage until William leaves Sydney.  Preferably also Australia.Imogen seems poised, innocent, wide-eyed, cool and impregnable on the surface, but she’s really a horny, motor-mouthed chatterbox under all the lace and silk, and she’s fine with being kidnapped, actually.  Stifled, and a prisoner in her father’s gilded cage, she’s so distant from William she’s sure she’ll soon be crushed like every other pawn on the chessboard of his life, and she wants out before it happens.  So she quickly helps Ajax engineer her kidnapping, and then happily settles into his house to hide out from her father.  When he brings up his plan of ruining her, she’s all for it – since she desperately doesn’t want to be a virgin any more - and how the heck can you ruin a woman by taking her virginity these days, anyway? Well, Ajax is happy to show her – without taking that precious hymen of hers.  Well, not at first…Cue lotsa sex, and Ajax falling into his own trap.  And the more time Ajax spends with (and inside) Imogen, the more he starts liking her, even though he’s determined to see her as a means to an end and not involve his well-guarded heart in the equation.  Will he be able to keep his newly cleaned-up reputation spotless, win the girl and get William behind bars once and for all?King’s Ransom has a way of hitting the reader right in that sweet spot – for me, multiple sweet spots.  What helps the plot is that Imogen is no wilting flower; her active, enthusiastic participation in her kidnapping is hilarious, as is Ajax’s flummoxed reaction to it and then nearly everything that comes out of her mouth.  She wants to go straight, wants to have lots of sex with this hot reformed bad boy - she might as well have some fun for once in her life.  That Imogen isn’t even remotely afraid of Ajax as he glowers and postures and tries to look tough is what makes the book.Let me be frank: if I could propose marriage to a fictional character, I would be legally wed to Imogen by now.  She’s sweet and hilarious and smart, a breath of fresh air and a lot of fun to watch, as is her desire to live life like a real human being with heartbreaking eagerness.I also giggled at Ajax, though mostly that came courtesy of how often Imogen flummoxed him.  That helps downplay his usual me-alpha-me-ruin-you-for-all-other-men alpha male thing, though he does make Imogen turn red by calling her little girl.  Tit for tat – his utter confusion at her not being afraid of having sex with him brings the balance right back, and Imogen engineering her own seduction was glorious.  Otherwise their relationship is a lot of understandable push-pull; he doesn’t want to get emotionally involved or deal with the repercussions of what he’s done, and she won’t let him hide from them.But the emotional bonding is nice, too. Imogen craves some kind of connection, and Ajax is more than willing to let her be herself.  Meanwhile his only family is his brother – his sainted mother is long dead - and his father tried to turn him into a killer.  So he gets all protective and mushy, which feels like a big step, and they both have big, ugly jagged scars that they can only heal through mutual acceptance.King’s Ransom will provoke, amuse and move its readers.  You really can’t ask for more in a romance novel.Well, besides sex!  Lotsa sex!  And you get that, too ;)Buy it at: Amazon/Apple Books/Barnes & Noble/KoboVisit our Amazon Storefront